Feet and Finns
by singingstranger
Summary: A zora princess loves a hylian commoner and runs away to be with him. The two of them must work with their dreams, skills and disabilities to find a way to stay together and not just survive... but to thrive despite the odds as Hyrule faces a new threat, more dangerous than anything they have faced before: Erasure. / T for violence and mild sexual themes later in the story.


_Princess Chambers_

When I hatched my mother was told that I would not survive the night. I hadn't grown a proper fin. My gills had not opened and my lungs were under developed. I was blue, but not the kind that is normal for a zora. The kind that indicates suffocation. My body barely moved, I could not stay afloat. But she held me and prayed for me to the Goddesses, pleading for my life. Father heard her crying and whispering. Begging that rather she would die than life without me.

Well, I am telling you my story now so obviously she did something right.

However the Goddesses heard her offer and they took it. I was crowned the baby princess the next morning, hours before my mother's body was burnt and her ashes scattered into the basin.

This is the story that I have been told many times and I am inclined to believe it. Most days I do not think too much of it, but sometimes, like today, it hurts. I woke up this morning with a damp pillow and a heavy heart, but I still haven't made my way out of bed. At last I rise up and stare out of the window into the water of the basin. My room, as most of the royal residence, is submerged under water. On the other side of the thick glass pane I can see the sun filtering down through the surface to illuminate the coral and seaweed outside. Some flickers of light even reach me, finally motivating me to try and move despite the heavy sadness. So I grab my cane and do just that.

I spend a long moment in front of my silvered mirror, observing the deep rings under my eyes. The fins on my arms are slightly crinkled, not to mention the tangled mess on my head. Someone told me once that I have similar waved, hair like skins as my mother did. After a moment of contemplating going back to bed I straighten out my appearance and get dressed. It is weird, growing up knowing that my mother died because of my birth. It means that on some days every single thing I do reminds me of her, makes me wonder if she would approve. If she would be mad for what I chose to do with her gift of survival for me. Today is one of these days, it seems.

I put on a simple blue and green dress, as always. I put some hooped earrings in to pretend I am motivated to self care. And finally I sit back on my bed to strap my fin prosthetics to myself. My legs never properly developed, one of them ending just below the knee and without flippers, the other no longer than the length of my palm. For walking I just need a cane. But for swimming I need some more extensive help.

Once I am mostly satisfied with my appearance I make my way to the corner of my bedroom and open a floor hatch to the tunnel that leads into the basin. It is filled with water so I can just hop in. I strap my cane to my back with a length of string and then hop in, swimming through the tunnel and out into the private part of the basin, the area reserved for the royal family and workers.

My duties call me to attend to the throne room, so I just quickly poke my head into the kitchens. They are also in one of the air bubble rooms, as chopping things under water has proven to be quite a challenge, and connect to the dining halls through dry channels. The cook seems to have been expecting me as she immediately beams and greets me with a hug: "Good morning Elyona!"

"Oof… good morning Zuria," I cough through the tight hug. She always manages to make me feel completely embraced. And she is very short, like me, so she never looks or speaks down to me, it is nice.

"You look tired!" she comments.

"I am."

"You need some good food then, to start your day!"

Before I can say anything else she has thrust a small bowl into my hands with freshly fillet' fish, kelp andthin slices of apple arranged into a beautiful plate. The apple slices make my heart beat just a little bit faster. Hylian food, tastes so delightfully exotic, but we never get fresh fruit like this unless...

"Does that mean…" I ask with a big grin.

She nods at me with a chuckle: "Yes dear. The Hylian traders are there. Now hurry up, your father awaits you so you can greet the guests with him!"

I find myself giggling like a little girl as I rush to the throne room, putting a shell over my bowl so I can carry it under water and take a short cut. When the Hylian traders come… Tilor comes with them.

* * *

_Visitor hallway_

Whenever I visit the Zora's domain I find my breath taken away by its beauty. But it also makes me wonder how others perceive my home when they come to see it. A little village in the middle of the woods may seem just normal and like home to me but surely to a zora who has never seen a hylian village it would be interesting?

Yet my home does not sparkle. It is not coated in mother of pearl, shells and delicately cut lime stone. Whenever I am here I am in awe.

"Tilor, watch where you're going!" someone snapped at me, stopping me just barely from falling into a hole in the ground with the basket of trinkets on my back. They would survive the plunge into the basin below… but I can't swim.

Wistfully I tear my eyes off the architecture. With all the high arches and small stone peaks above us supporting the large panes of stained and clear glass. This is a place of extravagance. A commoner such as me is not actually supposed to be here, not really. Especially not a Hylian.

It's not made for us. There is only one entrance and path that allow you to get through to the throne room without getting wet and it is hidden deep in the mountains with plenty of armed guards stopping uninvited people from entering. Only after coming in and getting permission from the king can we take the same way back out, climb down half the mountain and enter the area of the main basin to sell our wares by the water side. It is hostile. But oh it is worth it.

As I try to avoid falling into any other of the water filled tunnels that lead from this hall into the royal basin, we enter the throne room at last. Admittedly, I am rather nervous now. It has been a long time since I last came here and I am thinking of someone, wondering if she will be here. Princess Elyona.

The thought of her makes my heart beat harder. She is part Hylian, they say, making her look less fishy and more like us. Just enough to make me think she is really pretty.

"Do you think your fishy girlfriend will be there?" one of the traders asked me with a crude grin. I can feel my cheeks going red in embarrassment and shame.

But that does nothing to deter the others. Some of them are mean spirited, like this guy, while others will always come to my defence.

"Let him be, Mical," Yakob says with a frown, "Come on. We have a job to do, focus on it and stop alienating the zora!"

"Sorry, sorry," he laugh in response and shrug. He finally shuts up just before it is time for us to enter the throne room. Before us is the large black door, cut from thin obsidian and smelted together with silver and gold. Opals build the large crest of the zora family in the center, splitting in the middle to open outwards. Yakob turns to me and after looking me over he puts a stray curl behind my ear and wipes a smudge off my nose with his thumb.

"There. Now you're ready." He decides with a nod.

A nervous laugh escapes my throat as butterflies are crowding my stomach. He can see it in my expression, I am sure.

"Relax. She will be charmed by the attention," he laughed.

Right. I am certain she never has people come for the sole purpose of pining after her. Surely she never tires of men wanting her, I think. My face feels tight, like the gloominess is showing in my expression. Surely I just annoy her. Surely she wishes she had someone who wanted to talk to her as a friend, not just someone to marry.

I can hear Mical whisper behind my back, but not the words. And as the door creaks open by a large mechanism hidden from view I am momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight shining in from behind the throne and reflecting off the crystal ground. At the other end of the long hall I see the king after my eyes adjust to the light. By his side the princess is seated, holding a bowl of food in her hands and munching as we enter. It feels as if the light were washing away my anxiety and making space for the joy she gives me. She hasn't changed.

* * *

Author comment:

Long time no write! I haven't been on here in what... four years? Five? Life has happened. I'm a guy now. I'm studying game design. I've become pretty suddenly and badly disabled. And I haven't written in years, sadly. But I remember always how much I love fanfiction and writing LoZ fics, so here I am again.

This story is going to be different. From timing it is at some point before Breath of the Wild, in an era of relative peace, with original characters and just using the Zelda world as its stage. Our protagonists are Tilor and Elyona. I will draw them at some point so you can see what they might look like.

I am not 100% clear on where the story will take me yet. It's not the same kind of story as we had it with Skyloft Tales, but I hope that you still enjoy it and my style.

I've missed y'all. I hope a few of you are still here.


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